Anti-prostitution zealot admits he faked death

Scott Sonner

Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999 | 11:37 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - Police were considering whether to file charges today against an anti-brothel crusader who admits he staged his own disappearance to try to bring attention to illegal prostitution in Nevada.

Milo John Reese, who had been missing for 10 days, told sheriff's detectives Wednesday night he abandoned his car along Interstate 80 near the old Mustang Ranch to try to make it look like he was murdered.

A car window had been smashed with a rock and his blood was found at the scene just east of Reno.

"He does admit he staged his disappearance,' Washoe County Sheriff's Lt. Doug Gist said today.

"We know it is his blood. He put it there," Gist said.

Gist said Wednesday night he did not anticipate any charges would be filed against Reese because authorities had treated him as a missing person.

But Gist backed off that statement today, saying "We are exploring all of our options.

"We certainly are looking at any potential for criminal charges. We are also exploring any potential for recovering our costs and expenses for looking for Mr. Reese," he said.

Reese was spotted on a videotape at an automated teller machine in Sacramento last week when he withdrew money from his bank account.

He turned himself in to police in Las Vegas Wednesday after contacting law officers in Washoe County earlier in the day. Las Vegas Metro police accompanied him to the airport and he was flown to Reno, where sheriff's deputies met him at the airport.

"I wanted this investigated, so that's why I did this," Reese told reporters Wednesday night after meeting with investigators in Reno.

"It is very evident these girls at these brothels - all over Nevada, not just here - are doing a lot of business where prostitution is not legal," he said.

Prostitution is legal in a number of rural Nevada counties but not in the counties encompassing Reno or Las Vegas.

The sheriff's office confirmed in a statement Wednesday night that Reese disclosed to detectives that he "did stage his appearance and what he believed would appear as his murder intentionally in order to draw attention to himself and his own agenda.